HB1607 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB097 08009 AJO 48130 b

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB1607

Introduced 2/15/2011, by Rep. William Davis

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

765 ILCS 705/9 new

Amends the Landlord and Tenant Act. When a prospective lessor receives a request from a prospective lessee to rent a residential property, the prospective lessor may charge that prospective lessee an application fee, subject to limitations concerning the cost of, receipt for, and return of the fee. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning civil law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Landlord and Tenant Act is amended by adding Section 9 as follows:

(765 ILCS 705/9 new)

Sec. 9. Application fees. When a prospective lessor receives a request from a prospective lessee to rent a residential property, the prospective lessor may charge the prospective lessee an application fee. The fee cannot exceed the lessor's actual out-of-pocket cost to gather relevant information concerning the prospective lessee from a tenant screening service or consumer credit reporting agency. A prospective lessor shall provide the prospective lessee with a written itemized receipt for any application fee received. A prospective lessor shall not charge a prospective lessee an application fee if the prospective lessor knows or should have known that no rental unit is available at that time or will become available within a reasonable period of time. If the prospective lessor does not perform a screening of the prospective lessee, the prospective lessor shall return the application fee to the prospective lessee. A prospective lessor who violates this Section is liable to the prospective lessee for the application fee plus a civil penalty of up to $100, civil court filing costs, and reasonable attorney fees incurred to enforce this remedy.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.